The Quantitative Measurement of the Opacity of Aesthetic Dental Filling Materials

A method is described for measuring the opacity of anesthetic dental filling materials using a goniophotometer. Procedures are given for converting measured opacity values to those referred to a 70% reflectance background (C0.7 values) as required by existing specifications. The conversion is involved, and, since most available white surfaces have reflectance of about 80%, it is recommended that in future specifications opacity be recorded as C0.8 values. Opacity values for 28 materials are reported. It was found that the opacity of dental cement decreases for several days following preparation and that powder/liquid ratio has little effect, while pigmentation has a marked effect on opacity.